


too blind to see what was underneath

by xxprincessxx



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: College, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxprincessxx/pseuds/xxprincessxx
Summary: Nini had an image she wanted to maintain. What happens when she accidentally sleeps with Ricky Bowen - one of the biggest player's on their campus.
Relationships: E.J. Caswell/Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 36
Kudos: 237





	too blind to see what was underneath

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! this one is a little different from the rest of my works, played around with makeout scenes, i hope it's okay haha. anyways, i hope you enjoy it :)

Nini Salazar-Roberts is the child that every parent simply dreams about; the perfect student, strong relationship with her family and friends. She was aceing all her classes, involved in a number of clubs and committees on campus, and had a small tight knit group of friends. She always made sure she had time for a social life, telling herself it’s not healthy to be constantly consumed in her work. So, when her best friend Gina invites her to the school year kick-off party her boyfriend’s fraternity was hosting, Nini couldn’t say no.   
  
Clad in a red silky dress with thin straps that fell to her mid-thigh, she follows Carlos and Seb into the big house. Nini’s been here before maybe once or twice for a party, she wasn’t one to typically go to frat parties, or parties in general, but Alpha Sigma Phi threw good ass parties. And, Gina insisted that she couldn’t go to another party without her best friend. Nini couldn’t help but laugh at her claim, when she had left early to help EJ set everything up.   
  
The trio immediately head for the kitchen, Nini knew she was going to need a drink, or a few, to get her through the night. She quickly downed a shot along with Carlos, Seb promised to be their designated driver for the night. After her shot, a second one followed, then a third, she snatched one of the beers off the counter and cradled it to her chest. Already slightly buzzed, she knew it was going to be a good night.   
  
Soon after they had found Gina sitting on the couch, her boyfriend to her right and some girl Nini didn’t recognize to her left. When Gina’s eyes land on her best friend, she quickly stands up, “Nins! You look hot,” she calls pulling her in for quick hug, like they hadn’t seen each other just a few hours prior.  
  
Nini flips her hair over her shoulder, “Thanks, I try,” she says dramatically, taking a sip of her drink. Gina quickly shoots her boyfriend a look, letting him know she was going to dance with Nini. Before Gina brought her to dance, she hands Nini another shot, which she takes appreciatively. The two girls danced for a while when Nini realized she really need to go to the bathroom.   
  
“I’m just going to find a bathroom,” she shouts over the music. Gina nods, pointing vaguely to where she’ll be able to find the bathroom.   
  
The house was big, Nini wonders how many people actually live here. There was enough room for at least 10 people, if not more. She wandered through the house, tracing her hand up the rails, in search for the bathroom. Nini opens one of the many doors in the hallway, instead of finding a toilet, there was a tall boy with curly hair standing in the middle of the room, for a second Nini thought he looked familiar, but brushed it off.  
  
Nini didn’t notice at first, but the boy was shirtless, she couldn’t help but note how hot he looked just staring at her. She quickly mumbles an apology, already making her way back out the door.   
  
“Wait,” the boy calls, “I’m probably not what you were looking for, but I could make it worth your while,” he flirts, approaching the brunette.   
  
She smiles up at the boy biting her lip, this wasn’t Nini’s usual behaviour. She was rather quite shy and reserved, but the alcohol running through her system acted as a confidence enhancer – or was it an inhibitor? In that moment, she didn’t care.   
  
“What did you have in mind?” she giggles checking him out, her need for the bathroom completely slipping her mind.   
  
“How about I show you?” he suggests in a deep voice, placing a hand on her small waist. He swiftly closes the door behind her, pulling the small brunette closer to him.  
  
Tangling her nimble fingers into his curly hair, she leans up and presses a hard kiss to this stranger’s mouth. Nini knows she should care, she knows that this isn’t a part of her perfect image that her friends and club members viewed her. But she couldn’t care, as the boy pressed hungrier, rougher kisses to her mouth.   
  
Instinctively, she opens her mouth letting his tongue come into contact with hers. He starts to pull her towards his bed, as he sits at the edge she kicks off her awful heels. Climbing into his lap, she straddles the boy reclaiming his lips with her own, tracing her fingers down his chest, stopping every so often. Their moans and groans were echoing throughout the room, as they fought to reclaim dominance. His lips move from her hers, to kiss along her jaw then attaching to her neck, biting and sucking his way down to her shoulder, she moans as she grinds her hips into his trying to find the friction she was desperately looking for. Taking one of the thin straps in between his teeth, he looks up at her, as if to ask for permission.   
  
Nodding frantically, he unzips her dress and pushes the garment down, letting it fall and bunch up at her waist. He wraps her legs around his waist, as he stands to push her further into the bed, so she’s lying down on her back he finally pulls the dress off her body as he hovers above her kissing and licking his way down her chest.   
  
In the heat of the moment, Nini had enjoyed everything this curly-haired stranger was doing to her. Loving every kiss, every lick, and every touch, it felt like sparks were exploding through her body. But if Nini was a little bit more sober, if there was a little bit more light streaming through the room, she would’ve realized she had just slept with the boy that could totally ruin her reputation. 

—

Stirring from her sleep, she slowly starts to wake up trying to blink the sleep out of her, confused as to why the light was coming from the right side, rather than the left where her window is. Her head was pounding, she should’ve known the alcohol was a bad idea. As Nini looks around the room, her surroundings didn’t look familiar. She turns to see a head of curly hair lying next to her, his arms wrapped around her tightly.   
  
She groans, screwing her eyes shut, “Fuck,” she mumbles to herself.  
  
In her poor attempt to slip out of the boy’s arms, she didn’t realize how light of a sleeper he was, he began to stir, slowly beginning to wake up and realize what was going on. She pulls the sheets closer to her body, not wanting to flash him. As he lifts his head up from where it was nestled into her hair, Nini turns to see his face. No, this couldn’t be happening to her, she thought. Bringing her hands to her face, she just wanted to scream despite the persisting headache. Fuck. She slept with Ricky Bowen – the number one player across all the fraternities on campus.  
  
Ricky looks down at the girl, he gently takes her wrists pulling them away from her face, not really getting a good look at her the night before. She lets her hands fall from her face, she felt awkward? Uncomfortable? Embarrassed? Definitely all of the above.  
  
He takes a good look at the girl lying next to him, and it dawned on him who she was. “Fuck,” he swears, dropping his head down on to her shoulder, “Nini, I swear, I didn’t know it was you.”

“Well isn’t that reassuring,” she scoffs, pushing the boy off her body. 

The pair had met during their freshman year at college. They were paired for a group project in one of their classes, and Nini couldn’t stand the boy. He didn’t care about the work, all he wanted was to talk and ask her questions and just to simply bother her. He loved getting a rise out of the small brunette. Since the pair were in the same program, they had a number of classes together and he found a way to bother her in each of them. 

In their sophomore year, Ricky had developed some sort of reputation, and not a good one at that. He was initiated into Alpha Sigma Phi, and his annoying and pestering started to turn into flirting. Nini couldn’t deny that he was hot, but she knew to keep her perfect image she couldn’t be seen as another one of Ricky’s ‘girls.’ Not wanting people to think she’s just another naive little victim falling for his smug charm. 

“Nini,” he starts, sitting up from his spot, “I know I promised this wasn’t going to happen.” Reminding her the day she had cornered him after one their classes, she had went off about his flirty behaviour. Talking about how she doesn’t care how he spends his free time, but to promise no matter how much he flirts and banters with her, she won’t end up being like one of them. Nini tells herself she did it for her image, but somewhere she knew she did it, because she didn’t want to fall for him. He was ridiculously funny, despite all the annoying bits, and he wasn’t entirely horrible to be around. She just couldn’t get mixed up in the mess, that he was bound to bring. 

And last night, he had broken that promise. 

“No one has to know,” he tells her, “I know this could ruin you.” Ricky knew his reputation, and he knew hers. Despite everything, all the teasing and the banter, he didn’t want this for her. Since the day he met her he was intrigued to say the least, she was so different from everyone he knew, different from him. She was the person that thrived to do better, be better, always taking on new projects and activities. He never saw her simply relax and just let go. 

Not looking up at the boy next to her, she sits up keeping the sheets tightly around her, “Thanks Ricky, that means a lot more than you know.” She says, eyes trained on her lap. An awkward silence fills the room, the pair not really sure what to do next, both still naked from the night before, “Look, this is already weird enough, but I kind of don’t want to have to do the whole walk of shame thing.” She admits shyly. 

He nods as he slips out of his bed pulling on a pair of boxers, he tosses a fresh shirt to the girl on his bed, which she puts on gratefully. She’s lucky he thinks to himself, if she were anyone else, he wouldn’t have let her borrow his clothes much less stay longer than 15 minutes after waking up. But he likes whatever they have going on; the flirting, the banter, it’s better than not having her around at all. 

As he rifles through his drawers looking for his smallest pair of shorts or sweatpants, Nini takes this time in search of her underwear quickly pulling them on before he turned around, still a little embarrassed by the whole situation. He takes out two pairs, one for himself, and the other for the brunette standing on the other side of the room. He silently hands her the pants, as he quickly pulls his own on along with a shirt. 

“I’ll head down with you, but if we see any of the guys I’ll just say you needed somewhere to crash and nothing happened.” He says finally looking at the small girl. She was holding her little red dress and her heels were dangling from her other hand. Dreading her choice of footwear, knowing she’s going to have to walk home in the god forsaken shoes decked out in sweats that were swallowing her up. It was either that, or to walk home barefoot, and she knew that wasn’t about to happen. 

He knew this wasn’t like him at all, so he surprises himself when he offers. “I’ll drive you home.” 

Nini’s eyes widen in shock, “No, you really don’t have to!” She quickly tells him.

He shakes his head, “Nini, I promised you that I’m not ruining your image. And I mean it. So, let me drive you home, I’m not letting you walk across campus in those heels and dressed in the clothes of one of ASP’s biggest player’s.” He says gently taking her shoes and dress from her hand and stuffing it into a spare backpack he had laying around. 

She follows closely behind him as they make their way downstairs, passing by a few of his housemates giving each of them a small shy smile. But before they could make it to the door, EJ walks out of the kitchen to see the pair at the door. “Nini?” He asks confused on why his girlfriend’s best friend was dressed in Ricky’s clothes and it being nearly 11. She never wakes up this late, let alone in someone else’s home. 

“Morning EJ,” she tightly smiles at the taller boy hoping he doesn’t ask her any questions. 

“I didn’t know you were here,” he eyes Ricky carefully, his brain jumping to conclusions, “Gina’s been trying to text you all morning. She said you haven’t answered her, said you kind of disappeared last night.” 

Nini’s eyes widen turning to the boy next to her, “I left my phone in your room, could you grab it for me please?” She asks sweetly, smiling brightly at the boy. He nods quickly running up the stairs taking the steps two at a time, she couldn’t help but chuckle watching how fast he was going. Suddenly she hears EJ clear his throat in an attempt to regain her attention, her eyes falling on the tall boy in front of her. “What are you doing with him, Nini? You know what he’s like, y-”

“EJ,” she starts warningly, “Nothing happened. I just needed to crash last night, and Ricky offered. You don’t need to worry,” she reassures him, trying to calm down the boy’s brain from whatever he was thinking. 

Ricky pops up next to her, handing her the device. “Ready to go?” He asks. 

“Go?” EJ asks. 

The curly-haired boy nods, “I’m just driving her home, I’ll be back in a bit.” He says opening the door, letting Nini walk out first. With a final goodbye, they head over to his car. As they settle into the seats, he starts the car up questioning the girl on what EJ was talking to her about. She simply shakes her head, “He was warning me about you, but I stuck to our cover.” The rest of the drive was filled with small conversation, Nini not being able to stay quiet for long. 

As Ricky pulls up in front of her apartment complex, she gets out of the car hoisting the bag over her shoulder, “Thanks again, Ricky. I’ll return your clothes as soon as possible.” 

He shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it princess,” he assures her, “You look cuter in them anyways,” he winks. 

She couldn’t fight the blush rising to her cheeks, “Shut up,” she says closing the car door. She waves as he drives off down the street, as she heads towards her apartment, she couldn’t help but think - last night was really good, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. 

—

Another week passes by, Nini’s schedule filled to the brim. She wasn’t sure how she managed to juggle all of her clubs and activities along with her schoolwork without getting the slightest bit of burnout. She was sitting in her bed, trying to work on some of her readings for her class on Monday, she couldn’t help but ask herself; is this really what I do on a Friday night?

She knows she declined the invitations from her friends who were either going to parties or to a new bar in town, but she simply wanted to stay home and study. She starts to think about the events from last weekend, she wonders what Ricky’s up to. As promised, they never talked about it again. When she saw him sitting in his usual seat on Monday, he still flirted and teased her throughout the lecture, just like nothing had happened a few days prior. 

She doesn’t know what compels to her to do it, but the next thing she knows she’s picked up her phone, scrolling through her contact list. She hovers over his name, it was staring back at her like it was judging her next decision. Before Nini could chicken out, she clicks the call button. After three rings he picks up, “Hello?” the boy says into the phone. Nini thought it was odd, the other line was just as silent as hers, the only difference is that it’s a Friday night and usually Ricky would either be at a party getting drunk, looking for another girl to sleep with, or at some random club, again, finding some girl to sleep with. 

“Are you busy?” She asks. When he denies, claiming that he had no plans lined up for the night. Her next sentence surprises both of them, “come to my apartment.” 

“Why?” He questions, confused about the brunette’s demand. 

In an attempt to regain her confidence not letting him hear her falter, she takes a deep breath before saying, “Don’t ask. Just come.” And with that, she hangs up the phone. Nini wasn’t sure why she had done it, she wasn’t sure if he was even going to listen to her, he could simply ignore her request and leave her waiting for him the whole night. She decides that if he doesn’t come within the next hour, she’ll just go right back to reading for class. 

Fifteen minutes later, she hears a small knock on the door, instantly knowing who it was, she walks over yanking it open, pulling the boy inside. It wasn’t his first time at her apartment, they’ve worked on enough projects together that he didn’t need to ask for her apartment number. When he answered the phone earlier, he was confused as to why she was calling him. She never called him, usually when she needed something, particularly school related, it was through text. He answered instantly, but was confused when he heard her request. 

Letting her drag him into her apartment, he kicks off his shoes, looking to the brunette, “Princess, wh-” He begins to ask, but gets interrupted by her lips crashing onto his. He couldn’t help but kiss her back, deepening the kiss. Before they could get carried away, Ricky pulls back looking down at the small girl in front of him. “What are you doing?” He asks a little breathless. 

“I don’t know,” she admits pulling him towards her bedroom. 

She pushes him down on her bed climbing into his lap, just like she had done the previous week, but this time they were both sober as hell. Throwing her arms on top of his shoulders, his hands land on her hips instinctively, pressing his thumbs harder into her, trying to control himself. “Nini?” He questions. He only ever used her real name when he was serious, keeping his favourite nickname for when he was teasing and flirting with her. They both knew why he was asking, their agreement from sophomore year was still withstanding, even after the events from the previous weekend. 

She sighs, “Look, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about what happened, and I remember you were really good,” she admits, grinding her hips into his attempting to create any kind of friction. She smiles slyly as she feels him begin to harden underneath her, “So, please Ricky, take me,” she whispers into his ear as sultry as she could. 

He groans from her breathy voice and the way her hips were meeting his, “What about our agreement?” He questions, not wanting her to do something she’ll regret later. 

In replacement of a response, she presses her mouth to his roughly, opening up her mouth letting him lick his way into hers. He squeezes her hips once more, as she detaches her lips from his, she pushes him down onto her bed. She pulls her shirt over her head revealing the black bra she was wearing underneath. She begins to lean hovering over the boy’s body, she comes close to his ear, “Fuck the agreement,” she whispers. Pressing kisses along his neck, nipping at his skin, she brings her mouth back to his, kissing him once more. “But no one can know.” She says breathless in between kisses. 

“Fucking hell Princess,” he says breathless, he rolls them over pinning her into the bed as he rids himself of his shirt, “You got it.”

-

As he was pulling his clothes back on, Nini was watching him carefully, “So, about what I said,” she starts, wrapping the sheets tighter around her body. He freezes as he’s zipping up his jeans, “Princess, I swear to god if you say you regret th-”

“No,” she interrupts, “I just,” she huffs, trying to gather her thoughts as she sits up looking over at him, “I know I said I don’t want to be one of those girls you just sleep with. I don’t have time to go to parties and meet people, but I still have needs, and-”

“Nini, just say it,” he says walking over to the bed leaning closer to the girl’s face, “You want to keep sleeping with me,” he states smugly.

She shoves his face and turning away from him, “Nevermind, you’re ruining it.” 

Surprising Nini, he wraps his arms around her body, “No, seriously Nini. Is this what you want?” He asks as he presses a kiss to the back of her neck. She shivers at the contact, she knew that she wanted it, she knew what could happen if people find out, but Nini couldn’t help but wonder if it would be so bad to be seen with the boy wrapped around her. So, she answers, “Yeah, it is.” Turning over pressing a hard kiss to his mouth.

“But we need rules.” She says against his mouth, causing the boy to groan pulling away from the small girl. 

“Princess, you really do take the fun out of everything,” he tells her, sitting on the bed. Despite his jokes, he still agrees with her, knowing it’ll help soothe her into the situation. 

She sits up against her headboard their shoulders pressing against one another, “Well, no one can know, obviously.” She states, “and this is just sex, that’s all there is to it.” She looks down at her lap unsure if she should tell him the next one that was on her mind. When she falls silent, he looks over at the brunette next to him, he can tell she’s trying to talk herself up in her mind. He’s seen her do it a lot when they work on projects or when they’re in class and she wants to answer the question. He takes a hold of her hand, “Nini, it’s okay.” 

Taking a deep breath, “I don’t want you sleeping with other people,” she quickly spits out not daring to look at the boy next to her, knowing that it’s not fair of her to ask. She sneaks a quick glance at him to see him looking at her questioningly, trying to grasp at what she had just admitted, “Look, I just don’t want to catch anything you know?” She admits, half of the truth. 

“I get if you say no, because we can just forget I s-”

“It’s okay Nini.” His response caused her to snap her head in his direction locking eyes with the boy, she waits for him to elaborate, not wanting to jump to any conclusions. “I get it, but this goes both ways then. I’ll be there when you need me, but you be there when I need you, agreed?”

Nini contemplates what he had just say. She was confused as to how he agreed so quickly, Ricky Bowen was notorious for drinking and hooking up with girls. He was one of ASP’s biggest players and everyone knew that. And for some reason she just couldn’t believe he agreed so easily. So all Nini could do was muster a small nod. 

“And Nini,” he starts, looking into the girl’s eyes, “At any time you want out, tell me.” 

She nods, “I will.” 

And with that, he gets up finding his shirt that was thrown to the floor earlier that night pulling it on heading for the door. “Just so you know, Princess,” he stops right before the door, “you’re really good too.” He winks as he heads out the door. 

What the fuck did she just do. 

—

“Hey princess,” Ricky greets casually as he takes a seat next to her in class the following Monday. She smiles tight lipped at the boy, “Morning, Ricky.” 

As Nini begins to take out her things in preparation for their lecture, she feels Ricky lean closer to her. Glancing over her shoulder she eyes him confused, “What are you doing tonight?” He asks. Nini couldn’t help but shake her head, “I have a meeting later,” she replies simply, taking out her notebook and the pen she was digging around for. 

“Can I come by after?” He asks. 

She taps her pen against her lip thinking whether the meeting that night was going to run later than usual. She doesn’t think it should, before she could agree she feels Ricky’s hand fall onto her thigh, dangerously high, gripping it tightly. Before anyone could see, she whacks him on the head with her pen, tossing his hand off her leg with her other hand. “I was about to say yes, but just for that no, you can’t come over tonight.” she reprimands. 

He groans slouching back into his seat, “Princess, come on, we agreed,” he wagers. 

Nini huffs, as she sees their professor walk in, she straightens her posture, “Be there by 10 or you’re not getting any.” Ricky couldn’t help but smile triumphantly, knocking his knee into hers smiling at the girl next to him. 

Later that evening, Ricky showed up on time as promised, not letting his opportunity slip. The night was filled with rushed kisses, their groans echoing throughout her bedroom, the pair extremely thankful that Nini lives alone. Just as quickly as he arrived, he slipped out of her room retreating back to his house. They both knew what happens if he stays any longer than he should. They were barely friends, despite all his teasing and flirting, all that there was to this arrangement was sex. 

—

Most days in the following weeks after Ricky and Nini had made their agreement, Ricky would spend doing his readings and focusing on his work. Locking himself up in his room until he got bored or Nini texted him. He felt like he spent most of his time waiting on her and her busy schedule, but he kept telling himself that it was worth it, because they always had fun at the end of the day.

Ricky was deep in his notes, writing out and highlighting important things in his notebook as he went along in the reading, when his door burst open. EJ had walked into his room, apparently had knocked but Ricky didn’t hear over the music blaring through his headphones. “Dude, what’s up?” EJ shoots his question, sounding as if he was looking for a particular answer.

Confused as ever, the curly-haired boy looks to his friend, “What? I’m just doing some work,” he replies unsure of what the tall boy wanted from him. 

“No Ricky. You haven’t been to a party in a while, and none of us has seen you sleep with a girl since the beginning of the year,” he states, “We’re starting to get concerned for you man.” EJ finishes as he takes a seat on his bed. 

He couldn’t help but shake his head, wondering how that was what he and the rest of their brothers were worrying about, of all things. “Look, I just don’t do that anymore,” Ricky replies turning to face his friend fully, “I’m focusing on my studies this year.” He shrugs. 

“Bullshit.”

Ricky’s head snaps up to look at EJ, “Excuse me?”

EJ sits forward, leaning his elbows against his knee, “I’m calling bullshit Ricky. There’s something up with you, and I’m going to find out what it is.” 

Ricky shakes his head frantically, “Bro, you got it all wrong. I’m really here to do my work, pass my classes, and graduate. Is that really so hard to believe?” He asks.

“Yes.” He replies simply, “Ricky, at our annual kick-off party you were partying with us just like you had done last year, but what’s changed? I know you bro, something made you change and I’m going to figure it out.” He says, his mind travelling a thousand miles a minute, analyzing his friend in front of him. 

“EJ,” he says warningly, “Nothing’s changed. I just want to get my shit together, okay?” Trying to control himself, EJ was really starting to piss him off. He picks up his phone, realizing the time, knowing Nini should be home soon. He shoots her a quick text that he’s coming over, as he stands up, “I have to go, but seriously, drop it.” He says shortly grabbing his jacket and keys on his way out the door. 

-

“Nini?” He calls opening the door slightly, not trying to scare the girl, even though she had told him to just walk in. 

He peers around the corner to the kitchen, seeing Nini perched on the counter. She beams at the curly-haired boy in front of her, “Hi Ricky,” she giggles slightly. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the small girl, as he walks over to her he asks, “what’s got you so giggly tonight, princess?” 

He settles in between her legs letting his arms drop around her, hands resting on her hips, she drops her arms around his neck, “Nothing, I’m just happy today.” She smiles brightly. He couldn’t help himself, so he started peppering kisses along her neck, “That makes one of us,” he mumbles against her skin. 

Ricky didn’t see as a frown grows on her face, pulling at his hair to pull him away from her neck, “Why aren’t you happy?” She asks concern filling her eyes. He groans not wanting to talk about what happened, but he knew she wasn’t going to let up until he does. His thumb taps her a few times on her hip, contemplating what to say, “EJ’s on my case about not drinking and hooking up,” he admits, keeping his eyes trained on her shoulder, “Like, is it so hard to believe that I’m trying to be a good student?” He asks doubtfully, his mind wasn’t able to stray from the conversation he had back at the house.

Nini shakes her head, “Ricky, do what you want to do. Don’t let the guys dictate you, I know I said no hooking up with other girls, so I-”

His head snaps in her direction, he places a finger on her mouth interrupting her, “Don’t you dare blame this on yourself. I could’ve just as easily said no.” he tells her. She takes his hand in hers gently away from her mouth, “How about we order pizza and watch a movie? I think that’s what you need right now.” She offers. 

Debating whether he should take the offer, knowing this isn’t something they typically do, since it seems to be bordering into something more, but he knew that she was right - like always. He nods, “Only if we get to make out a little,” he jokes. She couldn’t help but laugh as she pressed a firm kiss to his mouth. 

“After dinner,” she says as she pulls away, with him trying to chase her lips. He huffs in annoyance, “Fine,” he says, helping her off the counter. 

Before Nini went in search for her phone to call for dinner, she wraps her arms around the boy’s torso pulling his body tightly to hers, “Ricky, I believe in you. If you ever need help with anything school or whatever, just come find me.” She tells him. As he puts his arms around her, “Thank you, Nini.” He says, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. 

That night was the night that things started to change. The night they started hanging out like they were friends, and not just two people that were sleeping with each other or were classmates trying to get a project done. They had watched his favourite movie, and simply just got to know each other over the course of the night. When he left, he felt his stomach erupt with an odd feeling, unsure of what it was, he pushed it aside. Thinking it was just nerves for having to go back to deal with EJ and the rest of their brothers. Little did he know, it was because of the brunette on the other side of that door. 

—

Nini was walking through the aisles of her favourite book shop in the city, she was skimming through the titles hoping a new one would pop out to her. As she was picking up a book to read the description, she feels her body leave the floor, a pair of arms around her spinning her in a circle. 

“Hi princess,” Ricky says. 

When he sets her down she smacks him on the shoulder with the book in her hand, “You scared me,” she lectures glaring at the tall boy. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, “What are you doing here anyways?” Nini asks setting the book back down on the shelf. 

He shrugs, “Was walking around, saw you through the window and thought we could do something.” His eyes travelling around the shop, “this is a cute place, how’d you find it?” He asks nonchalantly. 

The girl couldn’t help but laugh, “That doesn’t sound creepy at all,” she jokes bumping his shoulder with hers, she continues walking down the aisle eyes scanning the familiar shelves, “I don’t know, I stumbled upon it one day. So, what did you want to do?” She asks turning to look up at the boy following her. 

Ricky’s eyes glance around the shop, an idea popping into his mind, “How about this,” he starts, “I pick a book for you, and you pick one for me. We go back to my place and just read.” He offers. She raises her eyebrows at the boy in front of her, she never thought she would see the day that Ricky would voluntarily offer to read a book. She smirks, “deal.” 

After a few minutes of venturing through the store, she settles on the first Harry Potter book, no matter how much she loves the movies, the books always had a special place in her heart. It was arguably her all-time favourite series, and she knew that it wouldn’t entirely bore the boy that was going to read it, better than giving him Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. She spots the curly-haired boy standing by one of the tables holding a little pink book, she tries to peek at the title but he quickly hides it behind his back smirking at the girl.

She pouts up tugging on his elbow wanting to know what he picked out. Not relenting, he quickly grabs the book from her hands, “Harry Potter?” He questions laughing as he walks over to the cash register. Nini shrugs, “I didn’t want to bore you, and everyone has to read Harry Potter once in their life, it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen the movies.” She rambles. 

Pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and handing the cashier some cash paying for both books. She was about to protest until he says, “I’ve never seen Harry Potter.” 

Nini’s jaw drops speechless. “What the fuck do you mean you’ve never even seen Harry Potter?” She questions, “Like, not even one movie?” She pesters. He shakes his head, thanking the cashier as she hands him their bag of books and grabbing Nini’s hand pulling her along with him back to his house. 

“Ricky, I don’t think this is going to work,” she frowns shaking her head at the curly-haired boy next to her, “You haven’t seen Harry Potter! Not even the first one, everyone’s at least seen the first one! Have you been living under a rock or something?” He chuckles as he swings the bag back and forth, he shrugs letting her ramble on how appalled she is about his lack in movie taste.

As they reach the house, Ricky unlocks the door guiding her up the stairs to his room. She hadn’t been there since the first night they had slept together. She wasn’t paying all that much attention her first time around, but she noticed how neat and tidy his room was. A pile of textbooks and notebooks sat neatly next to his laptop on his desk, along with a hoodie draped on the back of his chair. 

She leans against the desk awkwardly, not really sure what to do or where to sit. Ricky noting her awkwardness he chuckles telling her to just sit on the bed and make herself at home. She complies watching as he sits next to her placing the bag of books in front of them. “Can I finally see what you picked for me?” She jokes reaching in the bag. 

Taking out the pink book that she had seen him holding earlier, the title reading Modern Love, it wasn’t what she was expecting. She looks at him questioningly, trying to gage any sort of reaction from the boy. Ricky simply shrugs, “It’s filled with stories about love taken from a New York Times column. It seemed like something you’d like but never get around to reading.” 

She nudges her body lightly into his shoulder, giggling at the boy next to her, “It’s cute, I’m excited.” She tells him honestly, picking up the book she picked out for him. “Now, we are going to read for a few hours, and once we get hungry we’ll make something and watch Harry Potter. There’s no negotiating this.” She demands. Ricky couldn’t help but laugh as she was giving her demands, taking the book from her hands he leans back against his pillows making himself comfortable. Nini copies him, opening the book to the first page. 

After a few hours, Nini’s made her way snuggling into his side, one of his arms wrapped loosely around her, stabling the book on his chest with one hand flipping through the pages. The pair enraptured in the world that their own books were pulling them into, the pair not having said a word since they started reading. Suddenly Ricky’s door burst open to reveal EJ, “Ricky, I need to borrow y-”

The tall boy had cut himself off when he looked up to see the pair on the bed. His eyes darting between the two, confused as to what was going on in front of him. Ricky is the one to break the silence, Nini going back to reading her book silently as of EJ hadn’t walked in, “What do you need to borrow?” Ricky asks, wondering what the tall boy needed.

“Uh, uhm, your,” he stutters, trying to remember what he came in for, “your phone charger, I can’t find mine.” 

Ricky nods, gently tapping Nini’s shoulder with his thumb, letting her know he was going to move. She sits up slightly, just to lie back down falling into the pillows as she continues to read. Ricky shuffles through his drawer looking for his spare charger, when he finally pulls it out and hands it to EJ, he moves back to his original spot with the brunette leaning into him. 

EJ mutters a small thanks, looking at the pair as he makes his way out. He stops at the door, turning back around not able to help himself from asking, “What’s happening?” The question brought Nini to look up at her best friend’s boyfriend, confused as to what he was talking about. 

“What?” Ricky asks.

EJ walks further into his room, stopping at the door of the bed, “I mean with you two,” he gestures vaguely between them, “Since when do you read? And hang out with Nini? Are you guys dating? Is this why you stopped partying and stuff?” Letting all the questions that were running through his mind pour out of his mouth. 

Nini shakes her head, “We’re not dating, just good friends.” She says. Ricky nods along in agreement, “I like to read asshole, I’m not illiterate. And does it matter when I started hanging out with Nini?” He bites at his dark-haired friend, ignoring his last question. 

EJ shakes his head in apologies, still not believing the pair. Not daring to tell them that people that are just friends simply don’t lie down and read together, and especially not in the position he had walked in on. With a final apology and a thanks for the charger he makes his way back to his room. 

“Well, that was weird,” Nini says, looking up at the boy next to her. He shrugs, his hand sliding down her back, “Better that he caught us reading, instead of what we normally do,” he says, squeezing her ass softly. 

She gasps at the action, smacking him on the chest. “Come on, let’s go eat, we need to get you educated on the wizarding world.” She laughs dragging him out of his bed. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the small brunette pulling him out of his room towards the kitchen. 

-

“Ricky! You cannot tell me you like Harry with Hermione!” She bickers hitting him on the shoulder. The credits for the third movie were rolling across the laptop screen, when they started arguing over Hermione’s love interest. Ricky looks to the small girl who was wearing one of his hoodies, claiming that his room was simply just too cold. “Princess, I stand by my choice. Harry should end up with Hermione, Ron is just wrong for her!” He counters closing the laptop, placing it on his nightstand. 

She huffs out a breath, “Fine, think what you want. But you’re thinking is wrong,” she says leaning back into the pillows on the bed. Nini picks her phone up for the first time since the first movie had finished, the time reading 1AM, “Ricky, it’s 1!” She gasps as she replies to a few texts from her friends letting them know she’s fine and alive, taking breaks in between her work. 

He shoots her a confused look, as she shows him her phone reading the time, “Just stay the night princess. I don’t want you walking back, I’ll drive you in the morning.” He offers. Nini knew she should take him up on his offer, it was much too late for her to walk back to her apartment. But she also didn’t want to cross too many boundaries with him, they’ve only just started becoming friends not too long ago. She glanced down to her phone wondering if one of her friends was still up, but that meant she had to explain why she was over at ASP’s house so late at night. 

Placing a gentle hand on her knee, “Princess, don’t over think it.” She nods, agreeing to the boy’s offer. She stands up to place the now empty bowl of popcorn on his desk, as he goes to change into comfier clothes. Nini rids herself of her bra, she wasn’t about to sleep uncomfortably just because she didn’t want to go home. Plus, he’s seen her without one more than enough times that it’s not weird, and she’ll be wearing his hoodie so it won’t be like he’s actually seeing her. 

Pulling the sheets back climbing into the side of the bed she had claimed as hers throughout the day. Ricky follows closely behind her, shirtless with a pair of sweatpants hung lowly on his hips. “Good night princess,” he says as he relaxes into his pile of pillows. Nini couldn’t help herself but turn on her side to look at the curly-haired boy, “Why do you call me princess?” She asks. Nini was always curious when he started calling her that after the first few times that they had met. 

Not expecting the question, he moves so he’s also facing her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “Because you’re pretty just like a princess. And I think it just suits you,” he says. Letting out a giggle she snuggles into his chest, wrapping an arm around his torso, he does the same around her waist pressing the girl into his bare chest. 

“Good night Ricky.” She whispers softly finally lulling herself to sleep.

—

“Nini! I feel like we haven’t seen you in ages!” Gina calls out into the empty coffee shop, followed by Seb, Carlos and Kourtney. Nini beams up at her friends surrounded by a pile of books and papers, with a lot of her evenings occupied with her committees and Ricky, she was finding it harder to focus and get work done. Her mind always wandering to other things, she wonders how last year it had just seemed so easy to juggle everything.

As her friends pull up a seat around the table, she pushes her notes and books into a pile so they didn’t get in the way of their drinks. “Yeah, sorry. I’ve just been a little busy, that’s all. So, what have I missed? Catch me up.” She tells them as she takes a gentle sip of her forgotten latte.

Her friends dive into how the semester’s been treating them, their campus clubs and activities, and even some of their crazy party stories. Nini will admit she misses her friends a lot, hanging out with them, and doing things that normal college students do. But she couldn’t in her right mind go to a party when she knows she has a paper due in a few days. Something in Nini couldn’t make her go, she knew she was holding herself back from getting out there, and living her life, but school has always been Nini’s top priority, and she wasn’t about to change that because she simply missed her friends. 

“You should come to ASP’s party tonight!” Kourtney says, causing Nini’s head to snap in her friend’s direction. She had a test the coming week, there was no possible way for her to skip out on studying just to let loose. Before Nini could decline, Carlos lays hand on top of hers, “Nini. We love you, and we want you to let go a little. We don’t want you missing out on everything, it’s one night, you’ll have the rest of the weekend to study.” He tells her. 

Seb nods along with his boyfriend, “Stay for an hour, and then we can take you home if you want.” 

Nini shakes her head, she knew her friends were right. She hasn’t been out with them in a long time, and large part of that has to do with her drowning herself in schoolwork, “I’ll go. But don’t worry about me, I’ll find a way home by myself. I don’t want you guys running out early just because of me.” She tells them. 

Gina beams at her friend pulling her in a hug, “We missed you Nini. And we don’t want you to leave this place regretting not living it up with your best friends,” she says. Her friends all nodding along, she couldn’t help but sigh, “Guys, I’m fine. Every once in a while, it’s nice, thank you for the reminder that I need to take a break from reality sometimes,” she smiles. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up on everything, Nini forgetting about her schoolwork for the day. She supposes she can take the day off, she’s been working her ass off in all her classes, a break is well deserved. Her mind travels to the curly-haired boy that she’s seen more often than her friends. She wonders if he’s going to that party tonight, it is at his fraternity, but he also hasn’t been to that many parties since the school year had started. 

-

Nini decided to dress hot that night, wanting to look good and also wanting to rile up Ricky just a little. She opted for a lacy black cropped bralette and high-waisted ripped denim jeans, pairing it with her most comfortable of heels. She knew she looked good, as she followed her friends into the big house she passed by a number of people. Some of them checking her out, Nini felt more confident than ever. 

After an hour, Nini was slightly buzzed, taking it easier than the last time she had partied with her friends. She was on the dance floor with Gina and Carlos, when suddenly she felt someone’s hands land on her hips. Nini glances over her shoulder to see Brendan, some guy from another fraternity on campus. She giggles turning around, letting her take in the moment as she danced along to the music with the tall blonde, her mind not thinking much of it. 

All of sudden he starts to grind his hips into hers, causing her to push him back not appreciating what he was doing. She begins to walk back to her friends thinking she’s had enough for the night. Thinking she’ll find Ricky before making her way home. After finding Gina letting her know she was heading home, having enough fun for the night. She presses a quick kiss to her friend’s cheek, making her way towards the staircase. She glances back making sure they didn’t see her, as she makes her way up she didn’t realize the curly-haired boy following closely behind her. 

Once she reaches the top of the stairs, she feels a hand smack her lightly on the ass. She turns around ready to yell at whoever had touched her, only to reveal the boy she was searching for. She glares at him for a moment, dragging him into his bedroom, “What do you think you’re doing?” She asks feigning irritation. 

He slips his hands down her back placing them on her ass pulling her tightly into his body, “What do you think you’re doing grinding up on Brendan Miller?” He counters pressing his mouth against her ear nipping it lightly, as he squeezes her butt.

She brings a hand up to his hair pulling at it his curls harshly, “Why, you jealous?” 

He growls into her ear dipping his head down kissing his way down her neck, kissing and sucking a little rougher than normal. Nini soon came to realize that he gets rougher when he’s jealous, like he has something to prove. She would never tell him, but she kind of liked it. She brings his head back up to hers, pressing a rough open mouth kiss to his lips, “I’ll take that as a yes,” she breathes against him, kicking her heels off her feet. 

With a final squeeze to her ass he slips his hands underneath grabbing her thighs, hoisting her up wrapping her legs around his waist. As he guides her to the bed, he drops her hovering over the small girl, “Yeah, I’m jealous, you know what I’m going to do about it princess?” He asks pressing his hips into hers she feels his hardening member press against her center, causing a moan to slip from her lips. He grinds roughly into her, pressing a hot open mouth kiss to her lips, she manages to utter two words between their kisses. 

“Show me.”

—

The following morning, Nini woke up to the sun hitting her eyes. She turns over burying her face into the curly-haired boy’s chest in attempt to keep the sun from burning her eyes anymore. This was the first time since they’ve made their arrangement that they spent the night together after having sex. Usually when she spends the night at his place, it’s after a day of studying or just hanging out. Nini was fully prepared to leave once they finished, but Ricky had convinced her that there wasn’t a point in her leaving in the event that she got caught and it being far too late to figure out a way home. She agreed too tired to figure out a way home. 

Ricky’s arms tighten around her signalling that he was awake. She whines not wanting to get up, “I should go before someone sees me,” she mumbles into his chest. 

“We’ll just use the same excuse as last time,” he says into her hair finally opening his eyes to look down at the small girl wrapped around him. She was wearing one of his t-shirts, throwing it on before they had fallen asleep not wanting to be completely bare when they woke in the morning. He couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked, scrunching her nose knowing she should open her eyes and finally wake up. 

She hums in response, “Okay,” she says snuggling further into his side. After a few more minutes of silence she finally begins to stir sitting up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She glances down to the boy lying next to her, she smiles brightly at him, “So, last night,” she starts. Which only caused him to groan, wrapping his arm around her stomach not wanting to have this conversation, “You were jealous.” She states.

“Yeah,” he mumbles into her back in embarrassment. Ever since their movie night a few weeks ago, Ricky has dropped his flirty persona around Nini, they’ve slowly been working together and hanging out as friends. Some nights he spends at her apartment watching TV or doing homework and studying together, doing it at his house sometimes, not as often since so many people were always running in and out of it. He’s slowly learned a lot about her, what she likes and doesn’t like, and why school has been and will always be her top priority. Sometimes he forgets on nights like last night that what they do is simply just for pleasure, he’s admitted to himself that her friendship with him comes first, and that’s why he kind of let his jealousy slip.

Poking at his shoulder awaiting his answer, he relents, “I didn’t like seeing you getting it on with some other guy, okay?” He huffs, sitting up next to her leaning his back on the headboard. “You don’t come to parties. And the one time that you do, you didn’t tell me, and it was at my house and then I see you getting it on the dance floor with Brendan.” 

She leans her back against the headboard beside him, shoulders touching, “Ricky, I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you I guess,” she fumbles with the hem of her shirt. His head snapping in her direction, “Surprise me?”

Not being able to look at the boy next to her, she nods, “I mean, I think I looked hot,”

“You always do princess.” He says interrupting the girl. 

A smile growing on her face, “I don’t know, I wanted it to be different last night, because normally when we do this,” she gestures vaguely between them, “I’m always wearing my school clothes or whatever. It’s never anything hot or sexy, I didn’t want you to get bored.” She rushes the last part out, embarrassed of her confession. 

He takes her face in his hands gently, looking directly into her brown orbs, “Nini, I’m not bored of you, okay? And you’re hot and sexy all the time, but you’re also beautiful and kind and smart, so baby stop doubting yourself.” He tells her, pressing a small kiss to her lips. She wraps her arms around his torso, placing her head in the crook of his neck, touched and slightly embarrassed by what he had said, “Thank you Ricky.” 

Pressing a kiss to her hair, “Anytime, Princess.” 

“I should get going, I need to study for our test next week,” she says starting to get out of bed. She pauses contemplating, “Do you want to come?”

He raises his eyebrows in question, “Yeah, let me just get some things and we can stop for breakfast before heading to your place.” He replies following her out of bed. After he slips on a pair of jeans, he looks over to the girl who had pulled on one of his hoodies that was folded neatly on his desk. 

“At this rate, I’m not going to have any clothes left, princess.” He chuckles, as he pulls on a white V-neck. 

She giggles as she moves towards him wrapping her arms around his neck smiling giddily at the boy. He places his hands on her ass once more squeezing it in a joking manner, like he had done most of the night. She looks at him questioningly, “What’s with you and my ass?” She asks. 

“You have a cute butt.” He laughs smacking her ass causing her to jump slightly and giggle, “Let’s go.” He says guiding her to his door, quickly grabbing his bag filled with everything he needed for the day. 

He watched chuckling at the brunette as she skipped down the stairs, “Oh! Can we go to Rosie’s? I’m craving th-”

“Nini?” A voice interrupts her as Nini takes the final step at the bottom of the stairs. 

Nini felt like a deer caught in headlights, “Gina, hi.” She says awkwardly to her best friend, her smile falling from her face. Gina was eyeing the pair, noting Nini’s oversized sweater and shoes in her hand with curly-haired boy following closely behind her. The pair felt incredibly uncomfortable, under the girl’s calculating eyes. 

“Morning Nini,” EJ calls walking up behind his girlfriend, “What are you guys up to today?” He asks casually, throwing an arm around Gina’s waist. His girlfriend snapping her head in his direction, “Why are you not surprised?” She asks sternly. EJ simply shrugs not catching on to the tone his girlfriend had been using, “She hangs around here sometimes. And Ricky doesn’t like her walking home late so she stays the night sometimes.” 

Gina looked between the three, more confused than ever. “Wait, wait, wait.” She ducks out of her boyfriend’s grasp, “You knew about this? And you didn’t tell me?” 

“That they’re friends? Yeah, I didn’t think it was a big deal.” He replies, slowly starting to catch on that she hadn’t known that they were even friends given the looks his girlfriend was shooting the group. His eyes travel to the pair standing in front of them silently asking what was going on. 

“Princess,” Ricky says softly, placing a gentle hand on her back. 

Clearing her throat, “No, yeah, we should go.” She says, looking to her friend in front of them wanting to avoid the conversation Gina wanted to have. 

“Nins,” he starts, she pulls on his hand towards the front door not letting her face break. When the front door closes she wraps her arms around the boy burying her head in his chest. His hand comes up, one around her back the other brushing through her hair. “Princess, I think you should talk to her.” She tightens her arms around the boy, she knows he’s right, she knows she should go back inside and just talk to her.

Reluctantly, she pulls back nodding, he was right. She’d regret leaving without talking to her, Nini gently pushes the front door open to see Gina sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands with EJ next to her rubbing circles on her back. Nini not able to move towards her best friend, she feels Ricky’s hand fall to her waist pushing her in helping her to make her first step. 

As she slowly approaches her friend, EJ gets up heading into the kitchen with Ricky by his side. Nini takes a seat next to Gina, not daring to look at the girl, her eyes focused on the wall in front of them. “I was scared G.” She starts, “I know how everyone has this picture of me in their head. ‘Oh, perfect little Nini, the child every parent just dreams about’ and then I knew how everyone saw Ricky, the player that doesn’t care about anything. But, we’ve gotten to know each other a lot in the last few months, and he’s so funny and fun to be around, he just lets me forget about my image, he saw me as just a person.”

“Nini, we see you as a person,” Gina says putting a hand on the girl’s back. 

Nini shakes her head, “No, Gina. You guys are always pushing me to put the books down, trying not to let life pass me by. You see me as the girl everyone else does. But Ricky, he just, he lets me be who I am, whether it’s with the books or we’re watching movies or a-anything else,” she stutters, nearly letting their secret slip. “G, I’m not saying you guys don’t love and care for me. I just feel like I always have to keep up an image, because god forbid I choose to do something fun for me and it’s like perfect Nini has gone off the rails.”

Gina’s hand was still rubbing comforting circles into her friend’s back, letting her rant and confess everything that she’s been bottling up inside. She didn’t know this was how her best friend felt, which made Gina feel terrible for not being there for Nini, especially in the times she needed her most. 

“I’m sorry Nini,” Gina says quietly, wrapping her arms around the brunette. Nini feels a tear escape from her eye she hasn’t admitted that to anyone, not even herself. She lets out a strangled sigh, running a hand through her hair while her other arm holds onto Gina’s arm tightly. 

“Don’t be.” Nini whispers smiling tightly at the girl next to her. Gina leans in pressing a kiss to her cheek, “I love you Nini, for you, not for the perfect girl everyone sees, but for who you are underneath it all.” 

Nini wraps her arms around Gina, returning the hug, “I love you too Gina.” She whispers, letting a few more tears slip down her face. The two girls sat in silence holding onto each other, once Nini was finally ready she got up pulling Gina towards the kitchen where the two boys were chatting at the table. 

As the two girls enter, Ricky’s head snaps toward the small brunette silently asking if she was okay. She musters a small smile as she walks over to him placing her arm around his shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance. “How about you guys join us at Rosie’s? We can push our studying off until later tonight.” She offers.

EJ and Gina instantly agree, both incredibly hungry. The group makes their way to the door, taking separate cars so Ricky didn’t have to bother looping back to drop off the couple. “You sure you’re doing okay Princess?” He asks as he pulls out of the driveway. 

She nods, “Thank you for pushing me to talk to her.” 

“I knew you wanted to princess, you just needed a little encouragement.” He responds, reaching over and squeezing her hand smiling softly at the brunette next to him.

—

After the events at Ricky’s house, Nini made it her mission to try and make more time for her friends. She knew with her studies and activities, and hanging out with Ricky, she had been pushing her friends away. That was how Nini ended up at Gina and Kourtney’s apartment the following weekend. That week Kourtney was made aware of Nini’s developing friendship with the curly-haired boy, so when Nini arrived at their apartment they quickly pulled her in wanting to ask her a question that’s been running through their mind all week. 

“Do you like Ricky?” Kourtney asks bluntly. 

Nini’s eyes widen as she takes a seat on the couch, “What? No.” She responds quickly. Gina and Kourtney looking at each other with knowing looks. They take a seat on the arm chair across from their best friend. “Nini, I’ve never you seen you so alive.” Gina admits, “When we went to Rosie’s you guys were just so comfortable. With the inside jokes, to the subtle touches, and it’s like you can read each other’s mind. I’ve never seen you like that with anyone.”

Shrugging, Nini wonders if she should tell them about their original arrangement. Even their relationship started as just sex, she knows he holds a special place in her heart, but Nini had always written it off as friendship. There’s no possible way for her to have feelings for Ricky - right? 

“Can I ask something and you answer me honestly?” Nini asks her focus trained on her hands that she rested on her lap. Her mind focusing on what Gina had said, knowing that she was right. 

The two girls nod, “Of course Neener, what’s going through your mind?” Kourtney asks gently. 

“It’s just, since I’ve started hanging out with Ricky, he hasn’t been to parties or hooking up with girls. On Friday night’s when ASP has their parties, he comes over to mine. And, I don’t know, is it stupid of me to think that I’m holding him back from the person that he used to be?” She asks. 

Kourtney and Gina were stunned by her question, not expecting that to roll off her tongue. Gina walks over crouching down next to her best friend as Kourtney takes a seat next to her on the couch. “Nins. If he really wanted to go to those parties and hook up with girls he would, you’re not stopping hi-”

“That’s the thing! I am stopping him! It is my fault!” She shouts, surprising herself not expecting those words to fall from her mouth. Sure, she had thought that it was her fault blaming herself, even after the night Ricky told her that it wasn’t. Nini couldn’t help but overthink and be insecure and blame herself for asking Ricky to do that so she could keep sleeping with him. It was selfish - she was selfish. 

Standing up, she begins to pace back and forth in front of her two friends, who were confused now more than ever. She gnaws at her lip nervously, not being able to stop herself from the next words to come out of her mouth, talking to herself, “I have to end it, yeah. That’s it. It’s my fault that he’s changed who he used to be. It’s my fault, I need to go talk to him, I can’t keep doing this. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.” She kept repeating to herself. 

“Nini baby,” Gina starts carefully, causing the brunette’s head to look over at the girls wide eyes. “Talk to us.” 

Nini shakes her head, “I can’t. I just, I have to go talk to him. I have to stop it. I-I-” her voice beginning to shake, crouching down in her spot putting a hand to her mouth. 

“Nini,” the two girls approach her slowly not wanting to scare the girl, Nini kept shaking her head, “Nini. Tell us what’s going on.” 

“It’s my fault,” she mumbles moving her hand to hug her knees closer to her chest, as she presses her mouth to her knee, “I told him he can’t sleep with anyone else, so he stopped. I’m so selfish. I’m the reason he’s changed, and I probably don’t give him enough. I can’t do that to him anymore. I need to end it. I need to talk to him.” 

“End what baby?” Kourtney asks carefully, “Your friendship? Because I don’t th-”

Nini shakes her head violently, “I sleep with Ricky. A lot. And I told him if we continued he had to stop sleeping with other people, and I can’t keep doing this. It’s my fault, I’m holding him back and I just need to end it.” 

Gina eyes their best friend still trying to grasp what the small girl had just admitted to them, rubbing her hand up and down her back trying to soothe the girl. “Baby, I’ve seen the way Ricky looks at you and treats you. It’s not like you’re just some girl he wants to stick it in. He cares about you Nini. In all the years EJ has known him, he hasn’t seen Ricky let a girl just borrow his clothes or hangs out with them and lets them stay the night. You’re special to him Nins. EJ knows it. I know it. God, I think Ricky knows it.” 

Despite everything Gina had said, Nini couldn’t let her mind be warped by some fantasy that Ricky Bowen could like her the way she was starting to realize that she liked him. She shakes her head, slowly getting up, “I’m going to end it. Now. Before I lose my nerve.” She says walking out the door she had walked through not even 20 minutes ago. 

-

“Ricky, I can’t do this anymore.” She says walking into his room, seeing him at his desk with a textbook open and a pen in his hand taking notes. 

He looks over to the girl confused, not expecting to see her tonight. He knew she was having girls night at Gina’s apartment, “Wait. What do you mean?” He asks setting his pen down in his notebook, swiveling his chair so he’s facing the girl properly. 

Nini’s eyes level with his for a second, before glancing over her shoulder. Trying her best not to lose her nerve, she takes in a sharp breath, “This, us, we have to stop.” She says blatantly. Ricky was incredibly confused standing up, walking towards the small brunette. He gently closes the door behind her, guiding her towards his bed thinking they should sit to talk. 

“Princess, what’s going on?” He asks.

She shakes her head, which felt like she’s been doing all night, “You said, the night we started this, that we can stop whenever I want. So, I want us to stop.” She says looking down at her lap. 

He scrunches his eyebrows, “Yeah, uh, okay.” He nods reluctantly, not wanting to lose the girl he slowly has been falling for. He looks at her with a sad smile, “Can I ask why?” Nervous for her answer, as he watches as her face contorts, her brain going 100 miles a minute. 

Nini was unsure of what to say. She knew her answer, debating whether it was worth telling him, deciding there wasn’t anything left to lose, “I feel like I’ve changed you. I don’t want to hold you back from being the person you were before we started this. You used to party all the time, and hook up with girls, and I know I asked you not to. So, yeah, I blame myself. I blame myself for changing you, for turning you into someone you probably don’t even want to be.” 

He was shocked at her confession, his jaw dropping slightly. She watches him carefully, deciding that she should probably leave before she changes her mind, but as she stands he stops her grabbing her hand. He stands, towering over the small girl, “The first night you walked into my room, it was my last party before I decided to settle down and get my shit together. I wanted to do better in school, I wanted to prove that I’m not a lost cause.” Not believing that she was blaming herself for the person he has become. “Nini. I don’t blame you, I’m actually grateful, you showed me that I’m more than just a face. You saw someone in me, that everyone else didn’t.” 

He gently presses his forehead against hers, locking eyes with the brunette, “Nini, we can stop having sex. If that’s what you want, but I’m a better person now and it’s all thanks to you. I don’t want to lose you, as a friend or anything else.” She nods against his head letting the words sink in, looking him in the eyes.

“You were never a lost cause Ricky.” She says, not daring to look away, making sure he heard and understood every word she was about to say. “Don’t ever say that. You once told me, don’t doubt yourself. Sure, it was under different circumstances, but I’m telling you not to doubt yourself, do you hear me?” He nods, whispering a small yeah between them. 

“God, I’m going to miss having sex with you,” he jokes, breaking the serious moment. Nini couldn’t help but laugh and punch his shoulder lightheartedly, telling him to shut up. “I’m serious, you were good, we were good,” he laughs, sliding his hands down her back, “I’m mostly going to miss touching your butt.” 

“Ricky!” She gasps as he squeezes it, she’s secretly loved how much he loves touching her ass.

He chuckles bringing his hands back to her waist hugging her to his body, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Friend first Nini. Always.” She hugs the curly-haired boy back tightly, letting the moment surround them.

—

“Nini, I swear if you’re trying to kill me, just do it already!” Ricky jokes, as she’s leading him somewhere blindly. It was Ricky’s 22nd birthday, and Nini had arranged a surprise party with his fraternity and some of his other friends at their favourite diner on campus. 

“Ricky, will you just shut up.” She says pulling on his hand, telling him when to take a step up as they were going up a few steps. After a few more moments of Ricky poking at her, a poor attempt to reveal the information that he was desperate for, Nini finally halts them to a stop. Letting him know they were finally at their destination, ordering him to take off his blindfold. He does as instructed with one hand, not wanting to let go of Nini’s.

“Surprise!” A group of 50 yelled, as the happy birthday song played lowly in the background. He bursts out into a smile, looking at everyone, seeing EJ along with Gina and Kourtney, and a few other people from their classes were also there. Then his eyes finally land on the girl next to him.

“You did this?” He asks gratefully.

She giggles, “With a little bit of help,” she admits, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek, “Happy Birthday Ricky.” He hugs her tightly, “you’re my favourite, you know that?” He whispers into her ear. 

Nini shrugs, “I know, that doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing it.” She smiles, “You’re my favourite too.” 

—

After Nini’s play, Ricky instantly went in search for his best friend, looking over the crowds trying to find the small brunette, when suddenly he feels a pair of arms wrap around his waist. He smiles to himself, recognizing her instantly, he turns to see her smiling giddily up at him. 

He hands her the bouquet of flowers he had bought on the way over, “I’m proud of you, princess.” He whispers pressing a kiss to her hair. 

“Thank you, Ricky.” 

They spent the night talking about her performance, he told her he’s never stayed awake for a musical before. But this one he didn’t miss even a second of it, he told her it was just that intriguing. But what he didn’t mention was that he didn’t want to miss a single second that she was on stage. Over the last couple of months, Ricky had admitted to himself that he was slowly falling for the brunette, he has been for a long time, just not wanting to admit it to himself. He was too scared to tell her, not wanting their friendship to be wrecked because of his feelings, so he decided to keep it to himself. For now. 

—

“Are you going to tell him?” Gina asks. They were hanging out at their favourite coffee shop in town, when Nini had told her she was starting to fall for the curly-headed boy that she’s come to know over the past year. 

Nini shrugs, “I’ve been trying to leave hints but I don’t know. Maybe he’s getting them and he’s just not interested.” She replies sadly as she takes a sip of her coffee. 

It had been just over 3 months since she and Ricky had decided to end their original deal. Their dynamic hasn’t changed, the only part that was different was the sex. She still hung out at his house and slept over on late nights; those were her favourite, when she would wake up to his arms tightly around her small frame. They still went out and studied together, spent a lot of time together, just like any best friend would. But Nini knew they were different. 

She knew she was falling for the boy and didn’t know what to do. To her, she wasn’t sure when it started, but she thinks it might’ve been the first day they became friends, when he was fighting with EJ and they just spent the night watching movies and acting silly. 

In those 3 months since they stopped, she’s been slowly leaving hints for him. Leaving lingering touches, kissing him on the cheek or on his hands, suggesting they watch rom-coms instead of Harry Potter. Nini was beginning to lose hope, thinking that he just didn’t see her in that way, and just saw her as his best friend. 

“Nini, are you dense?” Gina asks pulling her out of her train of thought. 

“What?”

Gina laughs, as she sets her coffee back down on the table eyeing her best friend. “Nini. I told you this three months ago, and I’m telling you again. You are special to that boy, he looks at you like you painted the skies or some shit. Trust me when I say this, that boy wants to be your boyfriend. You two are just dumb.” She says bluntly.

Nini looks at her like she was crazy, “He doesn’t!” she argues, not believing it herself when the words fell from her mouth. 

“Nini, honey, you know what you need to do.” Gina says gently, placing a hand on her friend’s. Nini squeezes it in comfort, “I know.” 

—

The pair were lounging in Ricky’s room, like they do most days, reading their own books. After the day at the book store, Nini and Ricky made it a tradition that once they both finished the book the other picked for them, they would go and pick out a new book for each other. 

Nini’s head laid in his lap, one of his hands falling to her loose tendrils, twirling it around his finger as they read. Nini huffs setting the book down in her lap, her mind not able to focus on the words on the page anymore thinking to the conversation she had with Gina a few days ago, “Do you want to know what’s dumb?” He hums in acknowledgement, his eyes not leaving the page. 

“You,” she says, causing Ricky to look down at the girl in his lap, “You’re dumb.” 

“Did you just call me dumb?”

Nini giggles, “You heard me. I said you’re dumb.” She says sitting up to face the boy in front of her. 

The confusion in Ricky’s brain continued to grow, he sets his book down placing his bookmark in between the pages, not to lose his spot. He looks at the pretty brunette, waiting for her to continue with her train of thought. When she didn’t continue he pokes her knee a few times with his finger, “Why am I dumb? I didn’t do anything.”

“See, that’s the problem.” She says shaking her head chuckling to herself, “You know, you used to be this cocky, flirty guy. Always flirting with me, even when we started sleeping together. Now, you’ve turned into this soft, sweet boy, who’s always hanging out with me, it’s like I’m your only friend.” She jokes. 

“Okay, I don’t see where I’m dumb in your story,” he says offended.

Shaking her head, laughing to herself, Nini starts, “You’re dumb because you haven’t caught on to the fact that I’ve been falling in love with you.” She admits, looking down at her hands, not wanting to see how his face was going to change as he slowly processed what the brunette had said. She knew this was a risk, but Gina was right, she had to tell him.

“You have?” He asks, not sure if she was serious. 

She nods not daring to look up, focusing on anything but the boy in front of her. He gently takes a hold of her face, forcing the girl to look directly into his eyes. “You can call me dumb all you want, but that just means you’re dumb too.” She shoots him a confused look, not quite catching on to what he was saying. 

“I’ve been falling in love with you since the day we met freshman year.” He continued. 

What did he mean freshman year? As if he read her mind, he continued, “Why do you think I bothered you so much princess? I had a crush on the pretty smart girl that’d never go for someone like me, I’d take anything I could get.” She couldn’t help herself but giggle, not believing that the boy in front of her loves her, just as much as she loves him.

“Well,” she starts leaning closer to his face, “We can keep talking about how dumb we are, or you can kiss me.” She suggests boldly. 

He smiles widely at the brunette, closing the gap between them. He’s missed the way her lips moved against his, Ricky intended this to be just a small, loving kiss. Something sweet and cute, but Nini had other plans, as she swings her leg over his lap, straddling the curly-haired boy. She deepens the kiss, moving her hands into his curly hair. His hands immediately resting on her butt, giving it a gentle squeeze, “God, I missed touching your ass,” he mumbles against her lips. 

“Is that all you missed?” She asks jokingly.

He hums trailing kisses along her jaw to her ear whispering into it, “I can think of a few other things.” Causing Nini to giggle craning her neck a little to give him more access as he kissed his way down her neck. 

“Hey Ricky, I ne — oh.” EJ says as he bursts into his room. The pair huff in annoyance as Nini climbs out of his lap, pressing her side up against his, not wanting to completely lose contact with him. “Well, it looks like you two got your shit together.” He says, eyes shifting between the pair. 

His smile growing on his face, “That means Carlos and Gina owe me 20 bucks! I got to go call them,” he says excitedly making his way back out the door, he pops his head back in, “Bye, have fun, be safe. But I guess you’ve done it enough ti-” His rambling was interrupted by Ricky throwing a pillow at the dark haired boy who barely dodges it. 

“EJ, just get out.” He demands. The tall boy smiles sheepishly, as he bids a final goodbye, shutting the door behind him, leaving the thrown pillow on the floor. 

Nini couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Ricky’s head snaps in her direction, “Oh, you think this is funny, do you?” Her body shaking from her giggles, “Maybe just a little.” 

He leans in aiming for her lips, but was instead met by her cheek. He looks at the girl confused wondering why she turned her face away, she was staring down at her lap once more. He takes a gentle hold of her hand, “Princess, what’s on your mind?” He asks, knowing she’s running her mind with a thousand questions and thoughts, he knew she needed to let whatever she was thinking out. 

“Ricky, do you want to be my boyfriend?” She asks simply, looking to the curly-haired boy next to her. 

He chuckles, “Nini, princess, I may be dumb, but I’m not that dumb. Of course, I’ll be your boyfriend.” She smiles brightly at his answer, pressing a firm kiss to his lips. As they pull back, his forehead resting against hers, “I wanted to be the one to ask, but this works too.” He jokes. Nini couldn’t help but giggle as she presses another kiss to his mouth. 

“So, boyfriend, what do you want to do now?” She asks suggestively.

“I have a few ideas.” He smirks, “girlfriend.”

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed this one! don't forget to leave a kudos and comment, they truly keep me going.
> 
> thank you everyone for all the love and support you have given me, i love you all xx
> 
> you can find me on twitter @xxprincesskels OR tumbr @nini-ricky


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